Food and Agricultural Code, 1967

All beekeepers must provide movable frames in hive brood areas and arrange their hives so combs can be removed for inspection without damaging other combs.

The inspector must order the bees’ owner, broker, or person in charge to move bees from a fixed hive to a movable frame hive within a reasonable time; if they do not comply, the inspector may destroy the hive and its contents.

A person must not place food containing honey into any combless package of bees or queen bees offered for sale or shipment.

The director may set up a system to certify colony strength for bees used to pollinate agricultural crops.

A bee colony’s strength must be certified after inspection using the number of active frames of bees per colony, measured by cluster count, frame count, both, or another method approved by the secretary.

Certain department employees, the commissioner, authorized persons, or persons appointed by the director may inspect and certify the colony strength of bees.

If inspection and certification are requested, the requester must pay for the service, and the inspector should try to give the beekeeper advance notice of the inspection date.

The director may make regulations setting reasonable fees to cover inspection and certification costs.

The county board of supervisors may set reasonable fees to cover inspection and certification costs performed by the commissioner.

The Legislature states that pest inspection is an important part of the apiary regulatory scheme, and that continued training for inspectors or commissioners in apiculture is needed.

Inspectors may enter and inspect apiaries, but must give notice when possible, avoid dwellings unless a warrant is obtained, and report results to the beekeeper within five days when feasible.

If an authorized inspection turns up, or suggests, pests in an apiary, the inspector must mark the affected hives or parts of hives. The inspector may also band and seal a diseased hive.

If an apiary has an infestation, the inspector must notify the owner or other responsible person in writing and order abatement within a specified time. The inspector may also require summary abatement or issue a hold order, and people notified of a hold order generally may not move the apiary or bee equipment unless authorized.

An infested apiary is treated as a public nuisance, and the owner, broker, or person in charge must abate the infestation without undue delay after finding it or being notified of it.

This section says a notice may be served on the broker or the person who possesses or owns the infested apiary, personally or by certified mail to the last known address. If the owner, broker, or person in charge or possession is unknown, the notice must be posted in a conspicuous place in the apiary.

If an apiary infestation is American foulbrood, the notice period must be between 24 and 48 hours after service. The inspector may extend that time limit in limited circumstances.

If American foulbrood is found in an apiary, the infested colonies and related equipment must be abated by killing the bees and disposing of the hives and contents in one of the listed ways.